Article 12 of the Compensation Directive requires that each EU country sets up a national scheme of compensation to all victims of violent intentional crime. According to this law all victims of violent intentional crime have access to a national compensation scheme from the country on whose territory the crime was committed.

Here you find information about the compensation scheme(s) available in the EU countries.

Some of the countries also provide access to compensation to its own nationals if the crime took place abroad. This aspect is not currently covered by the EU rules.

According to the Compensation Directive you can claim compensation from the EU country in which the crime was committed if you live in this State (national case) or if you live in another EU country (cross border case).

Therefore you are advised to look at the information of the country in which the crime was committed.

This page is maintained by the European Commission. The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. The Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice with regard to copyright rules for European pages.